The Albanian Alps

A Quick Summary

This week Kira and I took a bus from Montenegro to Shkoder, which is in the northern part of Albania. We spent a couple nights in Shkoder before taking a minibus to Theth, a small town in the mountains! The next day, we did a long hike from Theth to Vablone, another small mountain town (more like a cluster of houses). From there, we then made our way back to Shkoder the next day via 2 minibusses and a ferry!

Full map

Zoomed in map, the hike was between the two green dots on the top right!

Some Highlights

Albanian culture:

To be honest, I barely knew anything about Albania before we started planning this trip. I'm not even sure if I would have been able to point to it on a map! For some reason, I expected it to be more run-down or dirty, but I've been so impressed and surprised at how nice and modern things are here for the most part. 

Also, the people here are so nice. Even if they don't speak English super well, we've had so many people stop to offer help or point us in the right direction. One day in Skhoder, we biked to a beach and as we were arriving this local guy was leaving. But he turned around and showed us the way down to the beach, and then stayed to chat for a while before he headed out. We also stayed at a few guesthouses in the mountains, and the hosts were super friendly and helpful even though they didn't speak much English. I've been really grateful for the amazing hospitality and friendliness we've been shown so far in Albania! 

Seeing Lauren:

On Sunday, we got to meet up with Lauren, one of our friends from Vancouver! She had been doing her own Europe trip so it was fun to see her for a couple days. We rented bikes for the day and went to explore a castle and to the beach!

Theth to Valbone Hike

Here's a little summary of our hiking trip! It started on Tuesday, we got up early to take a minibus to Theth. 

Viewpoint partway on the drive 

Once we got there, we spent some time exploring around, and hiked to see this cool waterfall!

Bridge over a canyon

Waterfall! 

We got to stay the night at a guesthouse which was really nice. We had a room with a few other travellers, and the family we were staying with cooked us food and were great hosts.

Our guesthouse

Breakfast!

The next day, we hiked through a mountain pass to Valbone! The weather was crazy, it was a mix of super hot sun, pouring rain and freezing cold wind, and everything in between. Unfortunately it was a little cloudy at the top, but we managed to get some good views at times!

Starting the hike in the sun

Rain and wind up the pass

Trying to find shelter to eat some snacks

Climbing down from our shelter

View from near the top

No view at the top, we waited for a while to see if the clouds would clear but no luck :(

Flag at the top

Hiking down 

Sunny again on the way down

We then stayed at another guesthouse in Valbone for the night. This one took forever to find since it wasn't on any maps and there was no sign. But the couple we stayed with were super kind even though they only spoke Albanian and a bit of Italian so communication was limited. 

Our smaller guesthouse 

Dinner

The third day, we made our way all the way back to Shkoder via 2 mini busses and a ferry! It ended up being 3 mini busses because the first bus we were on needed fixing so the guy had his friend pick us up to continue the journey. It was a long day of sitting, but the mountain views from the drive and the ferry were stunning. I'm really glad we got a chance to see the Alps while we were here!

On the minibus

Ferry views

Ferry views part 2

Food Review

Shkoder brunch place:

When we were in Shkoder, we went to this brunch place which was really nice! It felt kind of like we were in Vancouver, except the prices were way cheaper. We ended up going back here a couple times because it was so good!

Reflections

On listening to my body:

With all my stomach problems earlier on, I definitely realized how important it is to listen to my body and what it is trying to tell me. If I start feeling sick when I'm eating something, or too tired to be excited to go see something, I think its important to take that into consideration and realize my body is trying to tell me something. At the same time, I think it's also important to know when to push your body a bit, whether that's getting up early for something cool, or pushing myself to get on another bus ride even though I really don't enjoy feeling sick for a few hours. I'm still learning how to find a balance between listening to what my body is trying to tell me, but also being okay to push it a bit and be okay with being uncomfortable.

Extra photos

Shkoder hostel

Cabins in Shkoder

On the bikes

Relaxing on the beach

Toilet built into the floor